काव्यमीमांसा (महाकवि राजशेखर - कवि-रहस्य एवं देश-विभाग सटीक)

216 EXPLANATORY NOTES
mised that Kuntaleśvara had secret hostility against his sovereign
king Vikramāditya and that Vikramāditya had sent Kālidāsa, his
ambassador, to Kuntaleśvara to remove that hostility by establish-
ing new bonds of friendship. Kālidāsa became successful in his
mission, and made Kuntaleśvara faithful to his overlord king
Vikramāditya. This fact, Kālidāsa conveys to his patron through
the stanza: असकलहसितत्वात् etc. as stated by Bhoja in the above
quotation. The approval: पिबतु मधुसुगन्धीन्याननानि प्रियाणां etc, expressed
by Vikramāditya with reference to the request conveyed through
Kālidāsa by Kuntaleśvara, shows that Vikrama had established
friendly connections with Kuntaleśvara. Now the question arises
as to who this Kuntaleśvara is.
From the History of the Vākāṭaka Empire (cir. A. D. 284-
550) as given by Mr. K. P. Jayaswal in J. B. O. R. S. vol. XIX.
I. II., it may be surmised that Pṛthvīsena I (cir. 348-375 A. D.),
who subjugated the king of Kuntala or the Karṇāṭaka country and
the Kadamba kingdom, was hostile to the Gupta kings, because
Samudragupta defeated and killed his father Vākāṭaka Rudrasena
I or Rudradeva I (cir. 344-348 A. D.) who was the reigning
sovereign. Samudragupta, however, later re-instated Pṛthvīsena
on the vacant throne of his father, as one of the सामन्त kings under
the Gupta sovereignty. During the reign of Candragupta II, this
Vākāṭaka king Pṛthvīsena gained much power due to his victory
over the Kuntala country and the Kadambas. Candragupta who
initiated a policy of political marriages with families of subjugated
kings, wanted, at that time, to remove the hostile feeling and
establish friendship with the Vākāṭaka prince Pṛthvīsena. This
idea, very probably, prompted Candragupta to send Kālidāsa as
an ambassador to the court of the Vākāṭaka king Pṛthvīsena
who was then called Kuntaleśa also due to his victory over the
the Kuntala country. We have, however, another testimony for
this Gupta Vākāṭaka relation. Prabhāvatī-guptā, the daughter
of Candragupta II through the Nāga princess Kubera Nāga, was
given in marriage to Vākāṭaka Rudrasena II, (cir. 375-395) the
son of Pṛthvīsena I, and her son was Pravarasena II (cir. 405-
435) To this Pravarasena is attributed the Setubandha Kāvya
which is generally believed to have been composed by Kālidāsa on
behalf of Pravarasena at the request of his patron Vikramāditya
Candragupta, the grand-father of Pravarasena II of the Vākāṭaka
dynasty.